I like to think of Sea Bass as the chicken breast of the sea.  That is to say, sea bass has a mild and clean flavor and is suitable for many dishes and preparations.   Sea Bass differs from Mediterranean sea bass (branzino), black sea bass, and stripped sea bass in that it’s actually mislabeled; sea bass is  “drum” fish as Chilean sea bass […]

You can make fish fritters out of most any fish (including the leftover kind), but our favorite is Salt Cod Fritters or Frittelle di Baccala  We like salt cod because it shreds or flakes easily and has a wonderful salty flavor profile that lends itself well to the frying method. Dried and salted “salt cod” is sold in whole pieces […]

Grilled Swordfish Recipe Head to Bagnara Calabra, located on a tiny sliver of the Tyrrhenian coast, during the month of July and you’ll encounter the swordfish sagra (or festival of the swordfish) to honor local fisherman.  The sagra, like all food festivals in Italy, honor not only the food product but the people and traditions surrounding the region (in the case of festival […]

Grilled calamari or squid is a great alternative to fried calamari and is ideal for the summer months.  My favorite way to prepare fresh squid is to marinate a few pounds of the well cleaned fish in lemon juice, parsley, et. al. and then quickly cook on an outdoor grill (the smokey flavor derived from a wood burning fire compliments […]

Monkfish and Scallop Seafood Risotto Don’t you hate it when you head to the market and pick up some great ingredients only to arrive home and realize you forgot an essential item?  In our case, we discovered some wonderful monkfish (or headfish) and large diver scallops at our local market and were all set to cook up a wonderful pot […]

Best Canned Sardines We love, high quality, canned fish and we think they are one of the culinary world’s secret weapons, especially when a home cook doesn’t have access to a wide variety of fresh fish.  In fact, in our book we’d rather consume superb salt/olive oil cured sardines, anchovies, tuna, etc. than a fresh fish like Talapia any day […]

Baked Whole Sardines in a Vinegar Sauce – An Easy Recipe for Cooking Fresh Sardines Fresh sardines are a staple food along the Mediterennean coast in southern Italy.   A favorite preparation includes cleaning, gutting, and washing the sardines well followed by a quick dusting of standard flour or chickpea flour.  Thereafter, the whole sardines are pan fried and quickly […]

Tagliatelle with peas and salmon is made with the very versatile, you guessed it, tagliatelle pastashape .  We used salmon and peas as the main ingredients, but you can substitute shrimp or any other firm flesh fish to serve with the peas and tagliatelle. Tagliatelle with Peas and Salmon   Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 20 mins Total time 35 […]

While in Italy this summer we ate a tremendous amount of seafood given our location along the Mediterranean Sea.  We feasted on swordfish, mussels, dried cod (though caught elsewhere),  prawns, sardines, etc.  Sardines are a particular favorite of mine and one of my favorite seafood dishes prepared this past summer by mother included fresh sardines, expertly filleted, and quickly pan grilled […]

(photo: ingredients for our mafalde fish pasta include wild or standard dandelion greens, garlic, onion, salmon, and grouper) When I speak to my mother on the phone each night (yes, don’t snicker there’s no way around avoiding your Italian mother) she inevitably asks me, “so, what did you make for dinner?”  And while I often answer back with a southern Italian classic […]